[Closed] New laptop for my daughter dilemma.

Chrome books are great, but if the tutors and/or her mates are on windows, she'll be different. Work out how much that matters to her.

If she's happy with Google docs, or would Ms office be better?

For the usage, the specifications are largely irrelevant, it comes down more to application preference, and ergonomics, ie. Screen size/quality and keyboard quality. Ms office costs, but can be bought cheap if she's a student.

Go windows for school.

Being different is not a issue. Having something that will work is. I'll be paying for it so would like to keep costs down. Cheers 1 shed.

You don't need to pay for office, Google docs and open office can be used.

Why windows for school as both are compatible?

What's she studying?

funny name.

Presumably if she's doing 6th form she has ambitions of college or uni? Windows every time.

Why windows for school as both are compatible?

With docs maybe. As soon as you need to run a program or spreadsheet compiled for a specific version of Excel that goes out the window.

She's going to be studying maths, further maths, physics and for a bit of fun history. Cheers 1 shed.

But the school programs/Software etc as well as her friends will be windows. Just because it is MS no reason to dislike it, it's rather good.

I'm a Mac/Windows user

Chromebook is no use if she actually need to run software for school. If she doesn't then it probably doesn't matter what laptop you get. YOu can do a lot more with Windows though

I think, because she may need specialist software at uni (maths stuff), she's better off with Windows.

For 6th form use, either are good and I love Chromebooks. I don't have one as internet is a bit patchy for it to be perfect for my needs. If I lived in the UK and were in a big Uni city, a Chromebook would be good for me.

Office through Uni is cheap. Not sure about the exact costs but some even allow students to download it for free. She could use Open Office until she [i]needs[/i] MS Office anyway.

Are those two your only options? I've been impressed with Toshiba's budget laptops. Satellite C50/C55 is great for what it is.

Google sheets is pretty powerful if you know what you're doing - it will be adequate for 99.9% of users. As others have said, the issue could be comparability with advanced functions (sql etc.).

The Student version of office can be had pretty cheap if you're worried.

Suggestion - Dual boot Windows and Linux.

Sounds like a PITA, but all you need to do is use the arrow keys at boot to chose the OS. Windows if you need the Apps, Linux for everything else.

Easy, and probably quite secure. MissStripes took to it fine.

Sounds like a PITA

Sounds pointless for a school laptop, TBH.

Well, you can go/download online as much as you like without clogging the Windows machine up, and you can also use all the Linux software which could be useful at school?

I mean, it's some way to being as "safe" as the Chromebook without having to actually buy one or do without Windows.

I'd go with a windows machine personally if she's doing maths, and she'll be able to get Ms office (excel) cheap being a student.

I use Windows and Linux, mint and Ubuntu.

Office through Uni is cheap. Not sure about the exact costs but some even allow students to download it for free.

Not anymore sadly, they pulled Office off Dreamspark pro last year.

Well, you can go/download online as much as you like without clogging the Windows machine up, and you can also use all the Linux software which could be useful at school?

I mean, it's some way to being as "safe" as the Chromebook without having to actually buy one or do without Windows.

Or, just not be a twit and download crap. You think just because it's linux it's safe? Anyway, from personal experience of doing just that I'd say don't, the hassle of having to reboot every time you need to do something else is a productivity killer never mind all the ****ing about that inevitably goes with (?)buntu. Keep it simple, Windows partition with a second partition for docs and such (meaning you can reinstall the OS if needed without losing docs).

No I don't think it's totally safe, I was just proffering an opinion. Feel free to ignore it.

EDIT: a better way would perhaps to give her a Windows laptop and a read-only USB for browsing and other use? [this is assuming you see any validity in my suggestion]

I'm sure my daughter gets MS Office for free as a 6th form student, just by using her college email address.
I think they allow something like 5 or 6 installs.

The basic three Microsoft Office applications of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are not available through DreamSpark: Office Home & Student 2013 or Office 365 University offers those at a discounted price for students. Unlike the programs listed above, there is no way to access similar older and compatible versions (2010, 2007) of Office for Word, Excel or PowerPoint under DreamSpark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamSpark

As I said they killed Office last year, round about when Windows 10 came out. She may well have got in before it was taken down.

It's not hard to get a cheap copy of Office anyway, usually its cheaper to get through work than the student copy!

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/it-services/news/office-students-staff.aspx

Not sure enough to argue but seems that there are still free versions available for some uni students.

Still suggest Windows and Open Office or MS Office if necessary.

How odd, I do apologise!

Just signed up for Office 365 Education

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/students/default.aspx

They've obviously changed their distribution method and nobody has bothered telling us! Typical OU really, not even the course tutors seem to know about any of this stuff.

Now got the option to install Office 2016. Thanks!

Windows. But buy reconditioned. I've bought two lenovo X220's from 3000rpm with SSD drives and 8 GB memory for £300 each. They are so well built, fast and with a docking station of Ebay, adaptable. If I could have one for work, I would over and above the HP they supply us. Teen2 loves his for university. Teen1 will be using his in the sixth form next term.

Well, you can go/download online as much as you like without clogging the Windows machine up,

I do that anyway. What's this "clogging" of which you speak? We're not using Windows 95 any more.

and you can also use all the Linux software which could be useful at school?

Such as?

Anything installed will gradually accumuliate cruft, and, it only takes one dodgy popup (as we've seen this isn't rare, ahem, STW) to get the user to install some Trojan horse...

As for software, there loads of small apps on Linux that might be of use.

Jeez, why does everyone want to argue?

I don't think anyone's arguing, Excel is a powerful app, and if she's doing maths she'll probably appreciate the advanced features it has, plus there's no compatability issues to worry about porting xlsx files into a dumbed down spreadsheet app.. Plus support will be easier if she has problems.

If she's running some Linux distro, or a chrome book, which is basically just a Web browser, it could make things needlessly more complicated. If she was doing computer science or learning to code, then I'd still suggest a windows machine with a duel boot Linux OS, but she's doing maths and physics.

My opinion of course!

Just to explain, my thinking was if OP was considering a Chromebook for a read-only OS and general security, then you can achieve a similar result with a Linux USB. Anyway, forget it 🙂

Anything installed will gradually accumuliate cruft

Cobblers.

As for software, there loads of small apps on Linux that might be of use.

Such as?

Jeez, why does everyone want to argue?

Jeez, why does everyone want to go "Linux" on every thread that asks about computers?

I don't want to argue, rather I don't see any compelling reason for the OP's daughter to need Linux in this case. Don't get me wrong, I like Linux, I've been working with it a lot of late and it's just fixed a huge problem at work. But it's a case of the right tool for the right job and someone going "Linux" every time anyone mentions Windows is just incredibly tedious and unhelpful.

That's why I asked "such as" - genuinely, what are these "small apps" that are going to merit rebooting into an unfamiliar OS for a 6th form student? Or, your way, using Linux as the primary OS and rebooting into Windows every time she needs to do any college work, which will be all the damn time. What's the gain here? She'll be pissed off with doing that in short order, I certainly would be.

It is, in my humble opinion, poor advice and that's why I'm challenging it. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong if I've missed something here and will cheerfully recant.

my thinking was if OP was considering a Chromebook for a read-only OS and general security, then you can achieve a similar result with a Linux USB.

You may well be right, but I'm not convinced that a Chromebook is the right choice for a student doing coursework either. There's ways and means, Office 365 and so on, but the School / College assignments will be geared towards students with Windows machines. I'm sure there's workarounds, and maybe the School provides Office 365, but if you're doing assignments you've got better things to worry about that how to make Excel work.

Which in fact is a question to the OP. Does the educational establishment provide Office facilities? Student copies of Office are much cheaper than retail (and LibreOffice is free but may cause problems if they're teaching how to use MS Office) but it's worth checking exactly what their requirements / expectations are, and what they will provide.

You have stated your case well.

I'm changing my suggestion to.... Raspberry Pi 😛

If a Cheomebook will get the job done go with that. IME whatever you buy them first won't last that long, it will get broken / they'll want something else after 2/3 years - so spend the least. I'd be tempted to get a Chromecast too (£20?) so she can "cast" what she wants to the tv. IMO you don't need the whole windows/office shabang for school work - thats overkill

I'm changing my suggestion to.... Raspberry Pi

No arguments here. (-: I really must do... something with mine at some point.

I'm not a huge fan of either Toshina or Lenovo build quality at the lower end, I've be looking at a £350 ish Dell or HP.

She'll get office for free from her school, educational copies are now provided. Don't focus or portability for the few times per year it might go to school or a coffee shop. A larger screen and slightly poorer battery life makes for a much more pleasant workspace.

Try and get a high res display.

Thanks for all the input. Still not made any decisions, so any help would be great. Cheers 1 shed.

Answer my questions, buy the Lenovo.

IMO you don't need the whole windows/office shabang for school work - thats overkill

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Besides that completely unfounded advice I doubt the OP wants to be buying another laptop in a years time for uni anyway. And give a little credit, my laptop lasted 5 years before the HDD died and then kept going for another 2 before I passed it on with only a broken clip [u]cover[/u]. Not bad considering the abuse it got (trying to play CS for hours at a time resulted in several power downs followed by a quick session in a freezer to get it to a happy temperature again) and the amount it travelled.

Indeed.

My main laptop is a 2008 vintage Dell. I've also replaced the HDD (twice, once due to failure and once to fit an SSD) and the case top where the hinges tore out. Other than that it's still as good as the day I bought it, came with Vista and running W10 these days.

Lol, my inherited 2005 Inspiron is bumbling along but seriously slow, need to do some W10 tweaks I think as even office is running slower than I type (which is saying something).

That said, it's not much slower than the i5 my wife is running but I suspect it has hardware issues.

But I digress...

I've just got a Chromebook and I'm very happy with it but I think I'd hesitate to recommend one as an only machine. If you get a Windows machine it'll do everything she'll ever need it to with no compatibility or learning curve issues, and she'll easily be able to get help with it.